NL West Rumors: Skaggs, Headley, Dodgers pitching

The National League West was a close-fought race last year between the Dodgers and Giants, with San Francisco coming out on top. I think we all know the rest of the story after that, so let's get started.

Skaggs optioned

Diamondbacks pitching prospect Tyler Skaggs was optioned to Triple-A today, and the move does come as a bit of a surprise. The left-handed pitching prospect was expected to have a shot at the Arizona rotation, but clearly things did not work out. Kevin Towers and co. have shown patience with their pitching prospects, as was shown by them waiting until last Summer to promote Trevor Bauer.

I feel personally that it is the smart move for them to demote Skaggs, because pitching prospects are scary and should be given more time than needed to develop. It should be interesting to see what they do if a playoff chase in involved and Skaggs is pitching well in Triple-A.

Headley to miss Opening Day?

Padres third baseman Chase Headley is in danger of missing Opening Day, which would certainly be a big blow for the team and their pursuit of the NL West. Headley was one of the best players in the National League last year, and it would be a killer blow to an already-thing team to lose him.

They do have internal options such as Jedd Gyorko that could fill in, but it would not be the same level of production that they could get from the 2012 MVP candidate Headley.

Dodgers change their minds about pitching depth

Despite the fact that they actually need some of their pitching depth now, the Dodgers are reportedly extremely likely candidates to trade a pitcher. This comes despite the constant quotes coming out of Dodger camp saying that the team likes to have the pitching depth that they have.

Add this to the list of things driving me crazy, as the team actually has a reason now to want to hold their pitchers, because Zack Greinke is having elbow issues. This does not seem like the ideal time for them to start trading out of their area of depth.